Riding rescue
by MusicalTB2
Summary: In which Kayo discovers something she didn't know about Scott, I do not own Thunderbirds but I like to keep their numbers on stand by ;) T for tiny swearing


Kayo broke from the kiss and paused the TV, "Oh hi John, no, you're not interrupting anything."

Scott sat back against the sofa, "A mission John?"

John nodded, "Yep, but it's a little different to the ones we're used to."

"Different how?"

Before John continued, the three were joined by Virgil, Gordon and Alan hurrying into the room to hear about the mission, "Hey guys, good timing. Now, as I was saying, it's a different situation to what we're used to, because we're helping people with their problem."

"Isn't that what we always do?" Gordon asked sharing a confused look with Alan.

"Not exactly Gordon, they've lost their pets."

"That's a little vague John," Virgil crossed his arms.

"That's all I got from them, I'm serious. I wish I could provide more information. All I know is that they're in Aosta, Italy."

"FAB. Who's needed?" Scott stood up, already predicting he would be going.

"Thunderbirds 1, 2 and possibly Shadow."

Kayo looked up at John, "Me? Seriously?"

"Uh huh."

"What do they need me for?"

"They apparently would like to know this search and rescue is being done under surveillance and protection. I said I had someone for the job," John smiled as Kayo stood up.

"I'm so up for that. I'll have Shadow ready in no time."

"Right, we all know our jobs. Meet you in Italy."

"Do you need us Virgil?" Alan asked happily.

"Not this time Al, we'll manage," Virgil smiled back before disappearing down the chute.

"I know how you feel Alan," Gordon sighed and sank down on the sofa, changing the channel as he did so to the swimming relays.

The Thunderbirds took off and Scott activated the scram jets, closely followed by Shadow and Thunderbird 2 who were a little slower than the head of the fleet, it wasn't long however until the continents began to appear underneath them.

"Thunderbird 1 to Shadow and Thunderbird 2, ETA now ten minutes."

"FAB Scotty, ETA for Shadow now just under twenty."

"Same for Thunderbird 2."

"See you there you two," Scott ended the transmission and continued to fly down through Italy, he gazed in awe at the view of the Alps and the green fields below shimmering in the sunlight, he finally approached Aosta and circled above the reported area where the pets had gone missing, "Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5, I'm over the area where the pets have gone missing. Anymore news?"

"Sadly not, they saw you fly over, however, you're welcome to land at their farm."

"Great. I'll make my way down, will I have to dust off my Italian?"

John laughed, "Thankfully no, one of them speaks English so he'll translate for you if the others talk."

"Thanks John. Preparing to land now," Scott circled overhead then landed at the farm making sure he distanced himself from the other animals, he jumped out and someone ran over to him, Scott smiled as he greeted the farmer, "Bonjourno."

"Grazie, thank you for coming, it's a disaster."

"What's happened exactly? Our brother didn't get much information from you."

"We had a storm last night and two of our racing mares bolted, we can only assume the worst has happened."

Scott frowned at this, "Do you know which direction they went off in?"

The man shook his head, "No, no. But we can only dread that they've gone to the mountain passage and have fallen."

"We'll find that out for you, try not to panic. I'll be back in just a second," He touched his communicator on his suit, "Thunderbird 2 and Shadow."

"Here Scott," Kayo's voice came through.

"What's the situation then?"

"Two lost horses, they could be in the mountains. A storm spooked them last night."

"Horses?" Kayo's voice rose, "I'm adding this to the weirdest rescues we've ever been on."

"Where do you need us?"

"Along the mountain passes, if you see the horses, then land as close to the mountain as possible, I'll join you when I can."

"FAB."

Scott turned back to the farm owner, "Have you any transport I can use once we find the horses?"

"Use my trailer for them, it's attached to the truck already."

Scott looked over to the Range Rover locked to a large horse box, "Great."

"How are you going to get the horses?"

"Harness and trust sir, not a problem," Scott smiled and leant against Thunderbird 1 to wait for news on the horses.

Kayo flew along the south mountain pass and looked down into the caverns, as she approached the end of the road she spotted them, "Gotcha, but how to get to you?" She called Scott and Virgil, "Guys, I've found the horses but the terrain is impossible to land on, I can land on the cliff face but that'll scare the horses."

"Can you go by bike somehow?" Scott asked.

"Well yes, but I'd have to be much further away, even then I'd risk scaring them. They're at the end of the path, beyond that is nothing, just a drop."

"Understood. Virgil? You're going to have to get over that mountain pass and lower the harness down from there, I'll see how far I can go with the trailer."

"FAB Scott, good luck," Virgil swung Thunderbird 2 round in the direction of the south pass.

Scott ran over to the trailer and got in, he waved to the farmer saying he wouldn't come back until he had the horses, then pushed the gas pedal down to the floor and raced off, the road remained a good size for the first few miles but as the path came into view, the surface became rockier and Scott found himself slowing down for safety, "No come on, let's get further along here," He turned the next bend and slammed the brakes on, the road got narrower with no space for a truck, "Oh shit. Calling Thunderbird 2 and Shadow, I can't go any further, I'm going to have to jet pack over to the horses, I've left the truck at the entrance to this path."

"FAB Scott, just tell me when you need the harness," Virgil sat back in his chair and hovered near the mountain.

"Where do you need me Scott?"

"When I say so, drop down the bike and join me."

"FAB."

Scott parked up and jetpacked along the path, when nearing the horses he landed and walked the rest of the way as not to frighten them, he smiled as he saw the two mares nuzzling each other on the narrow path, they were still bridled due to the hasty escape they had made and Scott approached them cautiously, "Hey, easy now. That's it, woah," He backed off a little as the two frisked about on the edge, he gritted his teeth and caught the reins, the two mares jumped a little and tried to pull themselves away from Scott, "Hey shhh, I've got you. You've been through a lot come on, trust me, hey hey."

Kayo waited in Shadow impatiently, she tried to call Scott but the call wouldn't go through, she tried Virgil instead, "It's Kayo, Virgil, I can't get through to Scott."

"Is he ignoring the call or is it physically not going through?"

"It's just not going through."

"Continue to wait for his call sis, it could be the difference between success and failure."

"FAB."

Scott in the meantime had now successfully got the two horses under control and was being pleasantly nuzzled by one of them on his neck, he called Kayo, "OK, I've got them under control. Land Shadow and proceed on foot Kayo, park next to the rover, you'll see it."

"FAB Scott, are you ok?"

"I'm absolutely fine and so are the mares."

"On my way to you now, Shadow out.

"Thunderbird 2?"

"Here Scott."

"We won't need you I don't think, Kayo and I will ride these horses back to the trailer."

Virgil laughed, "You, riding?"

"Yes, I know how to Virgil, have I never told you?" Scott frowned, surely he would've told his closest brother.

Virgil shook his head, "Nope. This I am telling everyone, and watching."

"If you're watching for a laugh, you're not going to get it. I'm a good rider."

"Alright alright horse whisperer, I'll join you when you've got the horses in the trailer."

"FAB."

Scott stroked one of the horse's necks as he waited for Kayo, when she came round the corner he smiled, "Over here Kayo."

"Awwh they're beautiful," Kayo approached the tall creatures and rubbed the white one's nose lovingly, "Poor things to run all the way out here, it's a good thing they didn't jump."

Scott nodded, "Well, saddle up, we need to get them back to the trailer."

Kayo raised her eyebrows at Scott, "You've got to be kidding me?"

"How else are we going to get them back, walk them?"

"I thought so, but since when do you ride?"

Scott grinned, "Lessons when I was a kid, then in the Air Force we had basic training for some reason."

"Wow, you never fail to impress me Scott, well that and genuinely surprise me too."

Scott laughed and handed her the reins of the white mare before mounting the black steed, "It's not a long ride. Think you can do it?"

Kayo mounted and pulled the reins tight to be comfortable, "Easy as, I had lessons as a kid too."

Scott clicked his tongue to the horse and nudged her sides with his feet taking off in a swift canter, "Keep up Kayo."

Kayo smirked and nudged the horse's sides with her heels, "Come on girl, we need to beat Scott," She sailed past Scott with a grin as her horse kicked up dust behind them.

"That's not fair!" Scott laughed and drove the horse faster.

"Want to see something more unfair?" Kayo smirked and swung her leg over so that she was riding side saddle at a full gallop, "Maybe I didn't tell you how good I actually was."

Scott narrowed his eyes as the low gate approached and with a large push the horse jumped over and they landed neatly on the other side, Kayo skidded her horse before the gate and swung back to sitting normally, "Too high Kayo?"

"I'm not jumping at side saddle, I'd be tossed. Give me a second," She turned the horse back and had another go, this time they jumped and landed neatly on Scott's side, "Piece of cake," She rubbed the horse's neck, "Good girl, good girl."

"Come on, we need to get them into the truck, it's open at the back now."

Kayo dismounted and walked her horse round to the ramp, Scott followed her, the horse walked up and Kayo waited.

Thunderbird 2 hovered overhead and began to land, Kayo looked up at the craft and waved as Scott locked up the truck.

"They're ready to go."

Virgil came out of Thunderbird 2 and joined the two by the truck, "Had fun did we?"

"You bet, I had forgotten how much I had loved riding," Kayo chuckled.

Virgil nodded, "You certainly looked like you were loving it, I was watching. What's the plan now then?"

"Get these two back to their farm, then home," Scott smiled as he opened the driver's side to the jeep.

"I'll re-dock with Shadow then, I'll meet you at the farm Scott," Kayo kissed his cheek then went back to the bike.

"See you Kayo," Scott touched his cheek tenderly then turned to Virgil again, "Want to join us at the farm?"

"I don't have a reason to really."

"Don't be a sourpuss, we might've needed you, but the horses were calm enough."

"Alright, I'll come to the farm. Meet you there," Virgil smiled and went back into Thunderbird 2 as Scott got into the car.

The group met outside the farm house being thanked over and over by the owners, two children were stroking the horses now back in the field.

"Grazie Grazie, I can't thank you enough. They're racing soon and it was such a bad feeling, if they were gone we might not have been able to race ever again."

"You're very welcome, they're lovely horses," Scott smiled.

One of the young girls approached Scott and kissed him on the cheek, "Grazie per il salvataggio il mio cavallo, non so cosa farei senza di lei."

Scott just smiled, "I'm sorry I don't understand what you said."

Kayo rolled her eyes, "Hopeless. She said thank you for rescuing her horse, she wouldn't know what to do without her."

"Ah. Tell her that I'm more than welcome and good luck with the racing."

Kayo nodded and answered the girl, "Egli pretende molto parlare italiano. Tu sei più di fortuna benvenuto e buono per la corsa."

The girl laughed, "Grazie."

The head farmer shook Scott, Virgil and Kayo's hand, "Thank you again, goodbye."

The pilots went back to their ships and left the farm behind them as they headed back to the Island, as Kayo flew she wondered whether or not Great Britain had won the medal...As she was about to find out when they got home, they hadn't.


End file.
